The Cardamine Connection
by JN Skyraider
Summary: After 10 years of peace in the Sirius Sector after the events in Freelancer, an attack on Newark Station in the New York system may lead to all out war with the Outcasts.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

**Newark Station, New York System:**

The monolithic station stood watch over the trade-lanes leading towards Planet Manhattan. Each day, hundreds of ships would make their way through the station, bringing goods and people into the station for further distribution to other locations within the house, while at the same time loading these ships with Liberty's commodities. The station also served as the headquarters for Interspace Commerce, the largest of all the house corporations. Interspace Commerce insured high value cargo within the Sirius Sector, while also funding the construction of jump gates and trade-lanes. Within the past few years after the crisis that saw Kusari and Rheinland go to war and the arrest of President Jacobi of Liberty, Interspace Commerce maintained a positive growth as new construction projects were awarded throughout the Sirius Sector. Economic chiefs of various corporations across the sector gathered at Newark to hear the Interspace Commerce CEO's speech at the anniversary party for the company.

The CEO of Interspace Commerce, John Williamson, fumbled with his speech notes as he awaited his introduction. After a huge round of applause, he motioned towards the podium, glancing around at the thousands of people that looked towards him for news of positive economic growth. Taking a brief sip of water, he began his speech.

"Ladies and gentleman, honourable guests, and to the board of directors I welcome you to our annual meeting. Over the past 10 years, we have witnessed a vast decrease in piracy among the four houses, as well as increased security in the border worlds. I am proud to announce that profits within the company are up by 60 percent compared to this quarter last year," adding a pause for the audience.

As they applauded, he took another sip of water, ready to continue his speech.

"Interspace Commerce has funded many new developments, such as increased colonization in the Hokkaido system in Kusari, new investments within Rheinland mining operations, the clean-up of the Leeds System in Bretonia, and here within Liberty Space the construction of a new ship-yard in the California system. Humanity is on a bright path towards success, with Interspace Commerce leading the way, torch in hand."

The audience broke out in further applause, happy with the news that their stock shares would be increasing in value the next morning when the markets opened. However, the applause was cut short as a large explosion tore through the room, killing many in the room. As alarms went off around the chaos in the room, two squads of Outcast fighters de-cloaked in front of the station, shields up and weapons armed.

"Newark Station to Outcast fighters, stand down immediately and prepare to be taken into custody. Failure to obey will result in your destruction."

The fighters ignored the command, and began their attack. With their advanced ships and weaponry, they began to tear apart the station, destroying the command bridge of the station with a well placed torpedo, while the other squad engaged the freighters and their escorts that attempted an escape from the station. As ships were destroyed everywhere, one of the Outcast fighters launched one more weapon, and then proceeded to follow his comrades away from the station, where they re-engaged the cloaking devices and slipped away.

On board the station, Lieutenant Edward Keynes of Newark Station security looked around as his men bravely fought the fires that threatened to destroy the station. None of them would expect the killing blow to come in the shape of a nuclear warhead. The weapon struck the hull of the station, and exploded in a brilliant flash of light that easily could have been mistaken for the sun on planet Manhattan. The station tore itself apart in the titanic explosion, and began to drift towards the gravity of Manhattan.

"Outcast Gold Leader to Gold Team, mission accomplished, report back to Malta immediately, Operation Angel de la Muerte has just begun."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

** Planet Manhattan, New York System:**

"John, wake up, please you have to wake up!"

Feeling myself being shaken, I turned over, looking into the eyes of my brother. He seemed afraid, something I had not seen in a long time.

"What is it, why are you shaking me?" I asked, half-asleep.

"Newark Station was destroyed in a terrorist attack! They say pieces of the station keep re-entering the atmosphere, some of them are pretty big apparently. My friend told me he saw a piece of it land right in Dallas Square."

Pushing him out of the way, I made my way into the bathroom and quickly dressed myself. My brother was right, as I could see flashes of light in the sky through the window as the smaller pieces of debris burnt as they re-entered the atmosphere.

"Paul, I want you to listen to me. Stay home from school today. I need to go into work immediately, but I will get home as soon as I can ok?"

"Okay John, but don't be long. You remember what happened last time!" he said, clearly hurt that I had to leave.

"I do, but it won't happen again I promise. I'll see you later."

I locked the door behind me, and quickly rode the elevator into the lobby. Upon exiting the building, I could see an armoured transport was already awaiting me. The Liberty Security Force logo could be clearly seen on the side of the ship. As the ramp of the ship dropped, I could see the Director of the LSF standing in the entryway.

"Lieutenant Thomson, we need you on board immediately. Some agents will be stopping by shortly to pick up your brother, I will explain more at LSF Headquarters." he yelled, trying to fight the noise of the engine.

"Is this about Newark Station? What happened up there?"

"Just get on board the ship, we need to depart immediately."

I quickly hopped on board the ship, and strapped myself in the brief flight to LSF Headquarters. Director Meyers was quite visibly stressed, and lit the cigarette in his hand to cope.

"Care for one Lieutenant? By the end of tonight, we're all going to need one."

"No thanks," I motioned, having quit the habit ages ago. "What can you tell me about the current situation? I hear it was a terrorist attack. Is The Order attacking us again sir?"

"No Lieutenant, we picked up some survivors up there who report that they witnessed Outcast ships attacking the station. However, they also mention cloaking devices and nuclear weapons, both technologies we know they lack."

The very word Outcast shook me to my core, as the memories of my childhood came into the forefront of my mind. When Paul and I were young, our parents were killed when the convoy they were a part of came under attack in the Sigma systems by Outcasts.

"Lieutenant, I am aware of your past histories with the Outcasts. But we cannot single them out as the suspects in this attack. Once we are at headquarters, we will brief you with what we know. But for now, enjoy the quiet. It's the last you'll get for a long time."

After a few minutes, the pilot of the transport told us that we were approaching the building. The tall tower stood out in the skyline, with large glowing letters along the side of the building that said spelled LSF. After landing in the docking bay, we disembarked the ship, and moved down a corridor towards the briefing area. It was a fairly large room, meant to hold various officers and their sub-ordinates as they discussed the latest pieces of intelligence and operations reports. I was pointed towards the table, and sat down to hear the briefing. Only a handful of officers were present in the room.

"An hour ago, various stockholders and corporate officers met on board Newark Station for the anniversary meeting of Interspace Commerce. After the CEO's speech, a bomb went off, killing the CEO and countless other civilians. Moments later, 2 groups of ships de-cloaked around the station, and began to attack it and other ships that were in the local area. After the battle, one of the ships fired a nuclear warhead which destroyed the station. Witnesses to the attack say that the ships appeared to be Outcast Sabres, however we cannot be sure. We are still trying to salvage what we can from the station, but so far we haven't found anything useful. Our biggest priority right now in the LSF is to investigate the attack. However I have called this particular group of officers to this meeting for a specific reason."

The director paused as we processed what we had heard. We looked around at each other, trying to see if we recognized anyone, but to no avail.

"I have brought you all together for a classified operation that only I and the President know of. Because of this attack, the other Houses are on high alert. Because of this, none of them are willing to share any intelligence information they may have on the Outcasts or other criminals. Therefore, we are sending you out alone on a fact-finding mission. Each of you will report to your ships immediately, and disembark to the co-ordinates that are already locked into your nav-computer. We will keep in contact with you, but you will be unable to contact us. We need to know if the Outcasts really were the ones behind this attack, and we must get justice for those who died. Once we establish who it was who attacked Newark Station, we will meet again at an undisclosed location. Good luck everyone."

As the director left the room with his security team, the other officers in the room gathered their things and proceeded to the hangar.

"Hey, Lieutenant Thomson! I need to speak with you"

I turned to see who it was, and it was one of the instructors in the LSF, Colonel Edgar Peters.

"Colonel Peters, it is an honour to see you again. What can I do for you?" I asked.

"Your about to embark on an operation I hear, I've been privy to some of the information in that meeting. While your away, they've asked me to take care of your brother. You know he applied to the LSF a few weeks ago right?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "I'm not too happy about it, I was hoping he'd stay planet-side. He needs something that's safe."

"Funny, I remember telling you the same thing when you were younger and wanted to join the LSF. Don't you worry, I'll make sure that he's safe. I think that Paul will make a fine addition to the LSF"

I shook his hand, and he left. I continued down the hangar, where everyone else was boarding their ship. I could see mine was ready to go, so I got inside and engaged the engine immediately. The Defender Heavy Fighter handled well, but compared to the ships in the other Houses, it was definitely starting to show its age.

"Oh well, at least it should keep me alive," I shrugged.

Looking at the ships computer, I could see that I had a Lavablade turret, two Magma Hammer guns, and three Justice lasers equipped. It wasn't much but it would keep me alive in a fight.

"LSF 1-4, you are clear for take-off, good luck out there," said the control tower, as the other ships began to launch into space.

"Copy control, clear for take-off." With those words, the engines roared to life, and I began the ascent into space. It was strange to say goodbye to Manhattan, not knowing where I was headed to. But for the people of Liberty, it was important to seek leads on the incident at Newark.


End file.
